Kenley Jansen wandered into the press box as the game turned to the eighth inning. Surely, this game finally would be the one in which the Dodgers would not suffer another painful bullpen failure, with their All-Star closer confined to the disabled list.
Jansen said hello, asking if the press box was the ugly section. There were smiles, and laughs, and then he departed.
Within minutes, there were no more smiles, and no more laughs, at least not in the home dugout. The Dodgers were six outs from victory, with a three-run lead.
Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run home run against rookie Caleb Ferguson in the eighth inning, and surely this game would be another one the Dodgers would lose.